635.4131/103
The Chargé in Argentina ( White ) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 9.]
Sir: Referring to previous despatches, I have the honor to state that according to La Nacion, May 19, the Under-Secretary of Commerce of Great Britain, Mr. Fraser, has been designated to discuss with the Argentine Government, the customs tariff portion of the Roca Agreement. It states that Mr. Fraser is due to arrive in Buenos Aires on June 11, and that the Board of Trade hopes that conversations may be initiated not later than four days after his arrival.
The Argentine Government will be represented by the Director General of Customs, Señor Agustín Piñedo, the Director General of the Bureau of Statistics, Señor Alfredo Lucadamo, together with experts from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Finance.
In arranging the tariff agreement, the Argentine Government will endeavor to obtain advantages for its butter and hides.
The final phase of the convention will concern the credit operation and in particular the fixing of the date for the emission of the bonds by the Argentine Government for the equivalent of blocked British owned pesos.
La Nacion carries an Associated Press despatch stating that the British Association of Chambers of Commerce have written Mr. Runciman8 requesting that tariff reductions be discussed for British products shipped to Argentina in proportion to Argentine exports consumed by Great Britain.
The letter urges that there should be a system of bonus or rebates which should be applied to all nations on the basis of the excess of the volume of Argentine exports consumed by individual countries in an amount greater or less than the importations which Argentina receives from them.
Such a system could be based on the figures of the last three years and thereby the difficulties presented by the most-favored-nation clauses in treaties might be obviated.
Respectfully yours,
- Walter Runciman, British M. P., President of the Board of Trade.↩